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Pastimes : Dream Machine ( Build your own PC ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Street Walker who wrote (435)	4/3/1998 8:46:00 AM
From: Spots	Respond to of 14778

>> Any opinions on this case? $69 pcpowercooling.com Even though I don't have first-hand knowledg of it, if I were buying a case today, it would be this one. I have an ATX case which is a physical twin, bay for bay. I like the physical layout. The motherboard bracket slides all the way out of the box. Cable routing is easy. The PCP&C case has an extension (extra) to add two internal bays. From what I can determine, its a bracket that hangs down below the other internals. I would definitely get that, even if I didn't have a current use for it. There's NEVER enough disk bays. I tried to get PCP&C to sell me just the extension, but they only sell it with the case. I thought just 3 external bays would be a limitation, but so far I have a CD-ROM, a CD-R and an empty bay left for DVD, so I'm ok. You'll NEVER jam enough stuff into this case to get close to a 300 watt load (or 275 either, for that matter), but that should make it run cooler. The 300 does have better specs than the Silencer models as to line variance tolerance and spikes. As for fans, I have two non-junk fans, both of which I like. One is the PCP&C dual cpu-cool fan for a pentium pro. This is actually two fans, either of which will cool the cpu if the other fails. The other is from SIIG for a P5 which has an alarm that sounds if the fan RPMs fall below a certain speed. Both have ball bearings and long MTBFs (7yrs?). I've had more trouble with CPU fans than with power supplies so have learned the lesson the hard way not to scrimp. Sure is a lot of junk out there. Spots

To: Street Walker who wrote (435)	4/3/1998 2:02:00 PM
From: LTBH	Respond to of 14778

Cases and Monitors I hesitated replying to your case post since I don't believe we have the general parameters set. I have a hard time discussing SCSI HD RAID in a $69 3 bay case. Cases and monitors are the two longest lived system components if properly selected when purchased. My case was purchased 7 years ago for $500 and has hosted 4 different systems. I had to replace an aging and beginning to fail power supply last year. I will now be faced with replacing the case soon to accommodate the new ATX form factor. Case Selection Plan for the future, plan wisely and you won't have to replace with every upgrade. A full tower with a minimum of 5 5 1/4 EXTERNAL bays. Using internal bays provides an airflow/heat trap and becomes a BIG hassle when troubleshooting. ALL external bays should have rails for slide out of devices. Also if you might need extra HDs etc. in the future, then an 11 bay tower is a must. For example: 2 HDs, CD ROM, Floppy and a Tape or DVD .... you're full up. Now when you add another HD why not keep the old one for backup or storage of seldom used data/programs. You need the extra bays to do so. Both Super Micro cases I previously mentioned have slides and 5 or 11 5 1/4 bays. They also have a number of very nice and important extra features: temp sensing fans, mounts for directed internal fans for mobo/mobo components/card cooling. The PC Power and Cooling Deluxe Sever Full Tower case is a fine one although I believe its quite overpriced. However if you can afford this case and like it, then buy. The $69 case, is in my opinion, a loser for the above reasons. Monitors Selection Monitors are also a long lived, replace upon fail system component. However this device is extremely user dependant. YOU are the one who either likes or dislikes a specific model. So you MUST actually see each of your candidates in living color, in action. There ain't no other way to guarantee your satisfaction. Start your candidates with these specs: 17", 1280x1024@85 minimum. A possible candidate is the Acer 76C at ~$335 and the other end of the price spectrum (not necessarily quality) is the Liyama Vision Master Pro 17 at ~$639. Let your eyes and pocket book be the judge. Networm